“[The best personal finance advice] can fit on a 3-by-5 index card, and is available for free in the library,” Pollack said during the interview. “So, if you’re paying someone for advice, almost by definition, you’re probably getting the wrong advice because the correct advice is so straightforward.”

Pollack’s comment was not intended to be the centerpiece of the interview. If anything, it was a one-off comment and he did not even elaborate on the specific financial advice.

After Pollack posted the video, he started receiving emails asking where to find this index card and what was the advice.

The problem: the index card didn’t exist.

So, Pollack grabbed an index card from his daughter, wrote several personal finance principles, snapped a photo with his phone and posted it online. The actual index card was 4-by-6 inches (rather than 3-by-5).

The result: the photo went viral.

Following the success of the index card post, Pollack and Olen teamed to write a book, The Index Card: Why Personal Advice Doesn’t Have To Be Complicated. In the book, they elaborated on the simple financial advice that Pollack recorded on his index card (with a few modifications and the addition of a tenth rule).

As the title suggests, the personal finance advice is simple and straightforward. Some of the rules are universal, while others are debatable.

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